"Instead of plane geometry he [Resnick] wants to teach parallel processing and self-organization (how do termites build their nests? how do slime-molds aggregate? how does traffic jam?); instead of analysis and anatomy, he wants the "centralized mindset" to give way, at least in large part, to a "decentralized" alternative. The question which bothers him is how something can act coherently and unitedly without a central controller, how, one might say, to build a Leviathan without a sovereign. This is not just a political desideratum (though Resnick makes it that, too) but a real intellectual problem: as one of my neuroscience professors likes to say, "The closer you look at the brain, the less it seems like there’s anybody home." In Resnick’s mind, the shift to market economies and devolution of power from central governments, the increasing acceptance of "small is beautiful" and related ideas in the general culture, the desire to use parallel and decentralized computing technologies, "society of mind" theories, and the attempts in science to handle large, complex systems are all part of a single trend. "

this brought up a wealth of memories and musings in that field which i have forgotten about, reminding me to get back on track and make some time to develop filmnik‘s backend. the idea of emergence and folksonomy seem very close, and lead me to think that the dream of connecting the filmmakers with their core internet audience that much closer to realization.

Cosma’s Notebooks are well worth reading, the breadth and scope of his musings are inspiring.